Entrepreneur Tries DIY Ethanol Machine
San Jose Mercury News:
A Silicon Valley entrepreneur is betting that drivers stung by rising gas prices will be eager to make the switch to ethanol for their cars – and that they’ll want to make it at home in a $10,000 refrigerator-sized machine.
Thomas Quinn, founder and chief executive of Los Gatos-based E-Fuel Corp., is selling what he bills as the world’s first home ethanol distilling system. Cars can run entirely on ethanol if they’re properly equipped, though currently in the United States the maximum allowed is a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.
The EFuel100 MicroFueler is a 6-foot-tall, white-and-green box on wheels that weighs 200 pounds when empty.
Quinn says his machine works by processing raw sugar – or even leftover hard liquor – to make the ethanol, instead of using corn, from which most commercial ethanol is made. Some critics argue that it takes more energy to grow and turn corn into ethanol than the finished fuel provides.
Each EFuel100 MicroFueler can make a blend of gasoline and ethanol, and can produce up to 35 gallons of ethanol a week, which is about enough to fill up the average car’s fuel tank twice.
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